The tunes on "Ex Tempore," the newest album from Johnny Irion, spilled out of him in a burst of creativity last summer in rural Massachusetts. An equal burst of recording energy brought out this collection of piano balladry, Americana, chamber pop and folk-style fingerpicking, with the occasional blast of skronky rock to clear the air. Johnny's carrying on in the Guthrie family's great sense of balladry (he's married to Arlo's daughter Sarah Lee), but he's got his own sweet style as a songwriter, and he brings it all to the WFMU studios with guitar in hand.